Battle of Tourtour

The Battle of Tourtour of 973 was a great victory for the Christian forces of William I of Provence over the Saracen pirates based at Fraxinetum.

For several decades, the Saracens had been making inroads into Provence, building several fortresses, the greatest of which was at Fraxinetum, the castle of La Garde-Freinet. From these bases, they raided and pillaged, capturing goods and people to be sold in faroff Moslem ports. Though they were opposed strongly at first, soon the Provençals settled down to a more passive resistance.

However, early in 973, the Saracens captured Maïeul, Abbot of Cluny, and demanded a ransom. Much venerated by his monks, his ransom was quickly obtained. The monks responded, however, once their abbot was released, by stirring up a fury in Provence against the Saracen menace. The peasantry and the noblesse were united in their antipathy towards the Saracens and together implored their ruler, Count William, to act against them. William, equally disturbed by the treatment of the abbot, raised the feudal host took to the offensivehuh. His army consisted not only of men from Provence, but also the lower Dauphiné and Nice.

William's strategy was simple, he struck at the heart of Saracen Provence with the whole of his forces. This did not go unnoticed by the Saracens, who went out to meet the Provençals in the Alps. They were defeated in a series of five battles at Embrun, Gap, Riez, Ampus, and Cabasse. Thoroughly beaten back, the Saracens assembled in an open plain not far from Fraxinetum called Tourtour. There, the sixth and final battle of the war was staged. William defeated the Saracens in the field and chased them back to Fraxinetum, where they were holed up while the Provençals rested.

After a brief break from campaigning, William made an assault on Fraxinetum. This attack was led by the lords of Levens, Aspremont, Gilette, Beuil, and Sospel. Having taken La Garde-Freinet, the Saracens were isolated and cut off in Fraxinetum, which was soon seized. The remainder of the Moslem army fled to a nearby forest, where they were soon overcome and entirely captured or killed. La Garde-Freinet was razed to the ground. Surviving Saracens were baptised and made to work as slaves. All remaining Moslems in Provence quickly removed themselves by ship without waiting for any further reprisals.

For this campaign and its success at expelling all the Saracens from Provence, William was entitled "the Liberator" and "Pater Patriae."